On the night of November 8, McCray rode his bike from his hometown of Schenectady to the Sunnyside Road home of Julius and Elisabeth Gelber, according to District Attorney Robert Carney who handled the case. Once there, he slipped through a back door that the elderly couple left open for health care aides, Carney said. Inside, Elisabeth Gelber confronted him.

Authorities said he tied her up, threatening the woman with a steak knife, before fleeing in her Subaru Forrester with a stolen laptop, TV, credit cards and purse, police said. The Forrester was found the next day abandoned in Schenectady.

At the time, Elisabeth Gelber was so badly beaten that she underwent brain surgery and was near death.

Carney said McCray committed the burglary so he could feed his crack cocaine habit.

The man is married to a home health care worker who was caring for Julius Gelber and against work rules had taken McCray to the Gelber residence with her before.

“There was no evidence she was involved,” said Carney, adding the crime caused the woman her job.

Julis Gelber is a 94-year-old retired urological surgeon who had practiced for decades in Schenectady. He was not hurt, police said. Julius Gelber had been incapacitated by a stroke and was under the care of the health care provider.

The attack on the Gelbers was hardly the first time McCray has acted violently against someone much older than him.

In July of 2009, he was released into the custody of parole on a grand larceny conviction but served prison time for attempted robbery and burglary offenses in Albany dating back to 1985, according to the state Department of Correctional Services.

In one of those crimes, McCray shoved a 60-year-old female robbery victim out of her wheelchair during a crime spree in Albany.

2 Responses

If the home health aide had not brought her husband to work with her against work rules, this would not have happened. The criminal husband would not have known that elderly couple existed. How can she not be responsible? So what if she lost her job! She’ll easily find another home health aide job. There aren’t enough people willing to do that type of work as it is. The hired help did not know that her husband had shoved an elderly woman before during a robbery? She had to know her husband was a crack addict and violent criminal.

This man is loathsome as is his wife. It’s hard to believe that she was not somehow involved in this and an accessory in the crime. At the very least, I hope she is not currently employed as a home health aide or any other profession where she is required to have compassion for the weak.